Edwards vs Usman III

Who won Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman by majority decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 286, on Saturday 18th March 2023 at o2 Arena in London.

The scorecards were announced as 48-46, 48-46, 47-47 in favor of the winner Leon Edwards.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

This contest was for the UFC welterweight championship.

Edwards vs Usman III stats

Leon Edwards stepped into the octagon with a record of 20 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Kamaru Usman made his way to the cage with a record of 20 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

Leon Edwards' UFC record stood at 14-2-0, while Kamaru Usman's came in at 15-3-0.

The stats suggested Usman had a slight advantage in power over Edwards, with a 45% knock out percentage over Edwards' 35%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Edwards had a slight advantage over Usman, with a 15% submission rate over Usman's 5%.

Leon Edwards was the younger man by 4 years, at 32 years old.

Edwards had a height advantage of 2 inches over Usman. Despite this, Usman had 4-inch reach advantage.

Edwards was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 1 year and 5 months earlier than Usman, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 1 more professional rounds, 77 to Usman's 76.

Edwards vs Usman III form

Usman had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 2opponents and going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 on 13th February 2021 by knockout in the 3rd round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 on 11th July 2020 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Colby Covington at UFC 245 on 14th December 2019 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, United States.

Before that, he was victorious against Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 on 2nd March 2019 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

He had won against Rafael dos Anjos at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale on 30th November 2018 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at The Pearl at the Palms, Las Vegas.

Activity check

Edwards' last 3 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 7 months and 16 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 2 years, 2 months and 16 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 11 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.7 rounds on average.

Usman's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 4 months and 19 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 28 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 23 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards was a 9/4 (+230) underdog going into the contest, while Kamaru Usman made his way into the ring at 9/25 (-280) with oddsmakers.